We are currently trashing out some ideas for our story.
We do have one that we are starting to favor but ill post up our thought process on the best ideas we have.

Team members as we stand:
opentarget(that's me) Kevin Mc Bride.
Producer of sorts and general workhorse.

twodassassin, Dale Robinson
Director of the short and general boss man, also a workhorse

wayofthepixel, Stephen Fagan
Mediator between me and dale :P and another workhorse.

darmoor, Daryl Moorhouse.
Sound, Music and Audio Mix

wayofthepixel

01-24-2010, 08:09 PM

yes I am a horse that likes to work. and draw and write and animate

opentarget

02-06-2010, 08:43 PM

well we have settled on an idea...here is a few that were close but no cigar:
Mad botanist works on a serum that has made his test crops flourish...but he is working on a way to adapt it to save the life of his dieing wife who is suffering from a fatal disease...with horrifying consequences!

a tribute to 2001 and Orson wells war of the worlds broadcast...a strange door appears one morning at the top of a hill in rural America, the press quickly blow it out of proportions and cause wide spread panic and mass evacuation as the US space agency ready a heroic scientist to pass through....the door from another dimension!!

man fights off a hoard of monsters saving his damsel in distress wife in the process....only to be berated when she sees the state of the house after the battle....our hero must then clean up the bloodied mucus filled mess he has created.

these are some of the ideas we had...but we really never felt we had the idea that we all wanted to make.
how could we come up with an idea that we would all love and be passionate about?
well i wanted mutated mad vegetables and plants.
dale wanted space aliens from another dimension invading our little blue planet.
Steven wanted monsters and zombies terrorizing some poor family.
a lot of ideas and the full range of b-movie monsters in one move? without appearing packed and stupid(aside from the obvious b-movie stupidity that is) its seams like an impossible task...but we think we have it.

"UNTITLED" ....duhhh duhhhhhh duuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
when we have a name we will let you know.
but stay tuned for our synopsis and screen play very very soon!

opentarget

02-07-2010, 07:55 PM

Synopsis.

An educational infomercial Brought to you by the The federation of Smoking, Alcohol and Red meat.

"with zombies terrorizing our suburban neighbourhoods, Mutant killer vegetables a scourge on our beautiful farmland country side and bug eyed aliens probing and experimenting on our youngsters you might be forgiven to think that all hope is lost....but not so. With the every day use of our products the S.A.R.M can guarantee your loved ones will be safe from the horrors of the modern world."

Our film is based around the idea of a super low budget tv infomercial aimed at selling products that everyone knows to be bad and negative to our health as a solution to fighting off a full roster of classic B-movie monsters and villains.

opentarget

02-07-2010, 08:37 PM

B-MOVIE
By
Treehouse Republic
Treehouse Republic 2010

INT. 1950íS KITCHEN - DAY
A man is sitting down at a table about to start eating a plate of vegetables.
NARRATOR
Hey you

The man looks up at the camera.
NARRATOR
Donít you know that vegetables can kill you?

The man looks shocked and shakes his head. The narrator enters, heís a cheesy 50ís man in a tuxedo with slicked hair, a pencil mustache and is smoking a cigarette.
NARRATOR
Its true. In these modern times of nuclear power there is a very good
chance of a turnip mutating into a human killing machine.

EXT. FARM - DAY
A man in a cheap mutated turnip costume cheaply climbs out of a hole. A nearby farmer reacts in
horror as the camera zooms in on his face.

INT. 1950íS KITCHEN - DAY

NARRATOR (DIRECT TO CAMERA)
But how could I stop a vegetable from eating me I hear you cry.
Well by eating red meat is how!

Using badly cut footage the veg in front of the man turns into a steak. The man smiles and tucks in.

NARRATOR
Red meat is not only stronger than vegetables but also gives you all
the nutrition you need to fight off those evil plants!

The turnip bursts into the kitchen and the man jumps up and wrestles it into the bin.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT
A family are cowering on the floor of a basement. The door is rattling and arms are sticking in through the small windows trying to grab them. The narrator walks onscreen but the family continue as if he is not there.

NARRATOR (DIRECT TO CAMERA)
What would you do if zombies attacked your family?

The father of the family takes out a knife and looks at his kids sadly.

NARRATOR
Kill your children to spare them the horror of having their heads smashed open and brains scooped out?

The father looks at his children as the stare back innocently. He raises the knife.

NARRATOR
Well now you donít have to! Our scientists have discovered that alcohol has so much goodness packed in that the zombies wonít want to eat you.

The father drops the knife and runs to a tool box. Inside is a six pack of beer. He gives one each to his wife and kids and they all drink it and relax as the zombies retreat.

NARRATOR
So what are you waiting for? Go to your local store and stack up on your favorite beer for you and your children before its to late!

FADE OUT
(INSERT AD FOR ALCOHOL)

EXT. MAKE OUT POINT - EVENING

There is a lone car sitting in a secluded spot.

INT. CAR - EVENING
SHOT FROM THE BACK SEAT
A teenage couple are in the front seats of the car. There is no one else around. The boy tries to kiss
the girl but she stops him. Suddenly the scene is lit up in a green light. Through the windscreen we see a cheap UFO on a string.

SHOT FROM THE DASHBOARD
The teenagers react in horror. The narrator sits up in the backseat.

NARRATOR
Extra-terrestrials, the bullies from outer space!

Outside the car, men dressed in cheap alien costumes are trying to get into the car.

NARRATOR
If you donít enjoy anal-probing then you better take action now.

He reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a cigarette case. He offers them to the teenagers. They hesitatingly take one each.

NARRATOR
These bug-eyed freaks live in a different atmosphere to ours where all the benefits of nicotine are poisonous to them.

The teenagers light the cigarettes and the aliens start to back away.

NARRATOR
The deeper you inhale, the more of that satisfing tar gets into your lungs, which has been proven to be
the number one repelant of aliens.

As the teenagers smoke more the aliens disappear and the green light fades.

NARRATOR
And another benefit of smoking is that now you look like a man.

The narrator winks at the teenage boy. The boy tries to kiss the girl again and this time it works.

NARRATOR (LAUGHING)
Keep aliens away and get the girls! Smoking, your new best friend.

FADE OUT
(INSERT AD FOR SMOKING)

END LOGO
A cows head appears (MGM Lion style)

NARRATOR (VO)
This educational film was brought to you by S.A.R.M. - The federation of Smoking, Alcohol and Red meat. The cow takes a pull off a cigarette and blows out the smoke.

this is the rough design of our alien.
we really wanted to get that b-movie look, so we started with a man, then just added loads and loads of bits to him.
this was serious fun, we all stood around it and just took turns drawing bits all over him.

this is more or less the kitchen we are going with for act1 of our film.
its supposed to be a small kitchen in a farmhouse, the props in the scene will be skewed and warped for the style we have chosen.

this is the final design for our alien from act 3 of our film. the bug eyed alien!

lunar1369

02-16-2010, 10:32 PM

You should hear the echoes over at my post. I especially love the mood concept of the basement, but everything I've seen has great charcter and feel.

opentarget

02-16-2010, 10:38 PM

woohoo! our first poster, you win a gold star from the team :)
thanks for the reply...I know it can be quite demoralising to get absolutely zero feedback but we soldier on as im sure you will. pop a link to your bmovie on your signature or in this tread and and ill be right over to post some crits and comments on your progress.
thanks again.

twodassassin

02-16-2010, 11:48 PM

all the good stuff startin to get up at last! cant wait to see 3d characters and bgs!

lunar1369

02-17-2010, 12:25 AM

Ok. Link's in the siggy. Did we talk during the Secret Agent Challenge (which I didn't complete)? I had just returned from Ireland when it began and I'm gettin' deja vu. I'm excited to see cheesy 50's guy come to life, by-the-by.

lovin the idea.
i wonder could you twister the idea of Pesticedes vs Organic, just a taughthttp://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/small/0902/organic-fruit-apple-evil-killer-blood-pesticides-natural-eye-demotivational-poster-1235691810.jpg
http://www.monterey.org/recycle/sustainability/agriculture/PESTICIDES2.jpg

this is more or less the framing we will use for the basement scene, the family will be right in the center of the shot.

astitchintime

02-19-2010, 01:00 PM

This style is harder to nail than most give it credit for.

You guys are definately nailing it! :)

The fridge, toaster oven, radio etc are all looking cool. I'm also interested in the main character and can imagine him already.

I don't envy the judges of this comp :)

opentarget

02-19-2010, 01:23 PM

thanks a million for your kind words, we have being doing a hell of a lot of concept and design work so that we can get the style we want to translate properly into 3d. as mostly a flash and 2d group this is our first real excursion into a 3d project together and is going to be a real learning experience for all of us.

my thoughts are that if we can nail the concept and style on paper we have an easier time translating it to 3d.

wish us luck ;)

lunar1369

02-19-2010, 02:51 PM

For a 2d group, your 3d is impeccable. The appliances look like they could come to life they have so much character. Your work ethic when it comes to pre-production is also admirable. I have seen that a lot around this forum. I kinda wish I didn't jump into production so fast. It kinda feels like I've gone too far in some areas to turn back, but I just might. The Secret Agent challenge may have scared me into rushing. We'll see.

opentarget

02-19-2010, 03:10 PM

hey thanks for the comments, the pre production is very important to us. we have very little time (jugaling this with other jobs is very very hard)so we want to know exactly what we need and dont need to keep the workload down.

I think i should clarify about the 3d, the models so far have been done by me and i have to make it clear that i have a good bit of experience in 3d, the other 2 guys are 2d guys and we are using this project as a learning experience so we can all learn each others trade so to speak. dale is working hard at modeling some props right now and Stephen will follow soon.
as soon as all the preproduction is cleared up we will all be pitching in on the 3d production.

3d is an area we want to branch out to, and what better way to learn than to be poped into pot while its boiling!

Bingu

02-19-2010, 07:09 PM

Heyya.:) Thanks for dropping by to our (gray wolf 2) page and im glad you like the work :). I have to say i really like your angles and the warped perspective you put into your work...it has a very strong cartoony vibe which im diggin....looking foward to seeing more:) all the best 2 u.

opentarget

02-20-2010, 03:17 PM

holly hell strider008...that apple is scary as f**k!
good idea on the pesticides idea, ill run it past the lads!

Wyszolmirski

02-20-2010, 03:20 PM

Very well orginesed progress. It's nice to see how well it's going so far. I like concepts a lot and models are very well done. When it will come together into animation will be cool to watch!

Looking forward to see more ... :D

opentarget

02-20-2010, 03:22 PM

nice one tom, ye we are following the steps and actualy having concept art for all of our props and so on...imagine that!? imagine how much that would have saved our asses back in the day!

this is a concept sketch for the farm set.
this will be a matte painting that will be made to look like it is painted on boards in the background as if it is shot in a stage, this will be to save us time and modeling and also we believe it will give it a real B-movie look. we want it to look intentionally bad...but good because of it :P

Launay

02-22-2010, 10:29 PM

Hi,
I like the way you handle the preproduction, this looks promising !
I particularly appreciated the last entry, strong atomsphere like a good old 50's matepainting! :)

Best regards,
Seb

opentarget

02-23-2010, 07:39 PM

thanks for the kind words ryo.
we are going to be putting that matte painting up on 3d boards that will be deliberately made to look like a cheap wooden sets, we hope this will be considered for the matte painting section of the competition.
this is also a method we will be using on the make out point set as well.

another step in the matte painting for the farm scene, this is a really quick shot that our mutated carrot pops up in.

shaderrooster

02-27-2010, 07:08 PM

hey guys
im liking the mood style you guys are creating for the different shots, and I also agree with your comment about having a good pre-production base to go off from so as not to waste time on creating things that will not be seen in the final animation, we are also putting this into practice as our workflow for the candy corn zombies

BebeteLANUITE

03-01-2010, 06:41 AM

I like the style of the character and the mood of the previz too.
Good job guys ;-)

this is starting to get close to the look we want for the matte painting.
we want it to feel like a painting and not like a ultra real matte painting we are used to seeing on this forum, the style is in keeping with the rest of our film and we are happy with the composition. Stephen has been working on this on and off using photoshop, a few more tweaks are needed before Dale will sign off on it but what you see here is very close to the final image.

any comments on the style or composition?

chino01

03-05-2010, 12:14 AM

Concept is growing on the positive side...
It's getting better and better...
Just great...I couldn't imagine a scene with just black and white tones to be superb like that
good work!!

This is the car modle for our makeout point set, Im working on the inside now but would have loved more time on the actual exterior but time is a slipping!
maybe ill get a chance to go back to it after the comp is over.

opentarget

03-10-2010, 11:08 AM

just a quick note for anyone interested, our sound is being recorded now and soon we can pop up our animatic when it is cut to the sound so yous can get a better idea of what our film is about.

thanks man...i knew i had seen it befor but god im just to much of a scater brain!

thanks again, animatic coming soonish.

opentarget

03-16-2010, 06:22 PM

ohh and now that our working day is over id like to take the opportunity to wish yous all a very happy st Patrick's day(that's tomorrow)
don't expect to many updates from us until the weekend as we will be off celebrating in the typical Irish fashion!!

Great story! Very good ideea.Looks one of a kind entry!Best to you guys!

borisignjatovic

03-22-2010, 12:27 PM

This was just amazing!!! Even if you publish it in this form it would surely be in top 5.

Congrats

wayofthepixel

03-22-2010, 02:09 PM

Its great getting the animatic finally up, looking forward now to getting into the animation

opentarget

03-22-2010, 05:14 PM

thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the animatic.
now we have to somehow get this thing done on time.....time to bring out the strong coffee and the cattle prod!

twodassassin

03-22-2010, 05:24 PM

No sleep for anyone anymore!

wayofthepixel

03-23-2010, 09:48 AM

Animation starts this week!! happy days!!!

wayofthepixel

03-25-2010, 10:14 PM

Aghhhhh I just realised we have less than a month left to get this finished!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh

lunar1369

03-25-2010, 11:25 PM

I feel your pain. Though I think I'm 90% done, there are so many tweaks and incompletes I have to deal with, the deadline looms like a suffocating cloud. I wish everyone the best, especially Kevin and crew, since I'm cluttering their thread with my rant.

ohhh man....we really need to get our collective fingers out and get this done!
keep it cool lads we can do it...i hope!

this is our man in a suit alien character...still have loads of characters left to do but most of them are very simple tweaked versions of our main hero character &quot;the presenter&quot;. this alien was the most different of them.

this is a rough idea of the look we are going for....really wish we had more time!!!
id like to say a well done to the lads im working on with this, this is our first 3d project with me being the only one with 3d experience before we jumped into the deep end with b-movie. I have been teaching the lads as we go and also learning a lot from them. so we have learned a lot on the way through this and made a lot of mistakes as well. its hard to learn a software this way but we wouldn't have it any other way.

30 second version of trailer for initial judging. Followed by a maximum of 90 sec making of material, followed by full length Video

Can anyone tell me if this is all to be one long vid or do we post seperatly? also if it is one long vid dose it have to be in that order?

wayofthepixel

04-15-2010, 05:10 PM

Theres been some really great enteries so far. We might not be the first to the finish line but I think we should be finished soon enough. just doing the final comp now. Just in time for the weekend!

bstout

04-15-2010, 08:46 PM

buried in the FAQ was this discussion.
the preferred submission was all in one clip, and in that order so they know from the 30 second whether to keep watching or not, then what categories you are submitting for, then the long form.

wow, its been hard to get to this point, but were glad to be uploading our final animation now...just in time for the weekend, and I think we defiantly deserve a night out after this!
stay tuned for our final upload of trailer making of and final animation all mashed together in one video.

here it is at last.
all the vids together.
we slaved over this for weeks, 2 of the lads never even having touched 3d before we plunged off the deep end!
fair play to them, it was a baptism of fire that we all learned from. Thanks to everyone who posted and checked out our thread and we hope that you enjoy it.
we all look forward to seeing your films and the best of luck to everyone who is entering.

Freakin hilarious. Congrats Kevin and team on an excellent piece and on finishing in time. Where'd ya get the voice-over guy? He was perfect! hats off (and I normally wear a hat) to the team. I'm currently smoking a Camel, eating a steak and drinkin' an MGD. If your movie taught me anything, I'm invincible!

opentarget

04-17-2010, 02:47 PM

Hi everyone, we have a bit of a problem in that we posted up our "final videos" but in our rush to get it done we put up a version that is missing a page of credits. Is there a way to overwrite the version we posted or will it be ok to just edit the previous posts title and upload a new final film posting?

lunar1369

04-17-2010, 03:06 PM

I read somewhere in the rules that you can upload your "final" video as many times as you want til the deadline. The last one uploaded will be considered the final. I'll try to find the quote.

lunar1369

04-17-2010, 03:11 PM

Here's where i saw that in the FAQ:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=6421244&postcount=234

opentarget

04-18-2010, 12:44 PM

ahh fair play to you lunar, thanks a million. and congrats to you for all your hard work on your piece, looks great and a hell of a lot of fun!

Great work lads! You nailed the retro feel. I ignored the CG background of it. The voice over is stunning. I wish to have someone with this sound around my friends here in Slovakia. Good luck :beer: (they still didn't made the dark pints)

twodassassin

04-19-2010, 06:56 PM

Thanks Guys,

Does anyone know when the results are out?

opentarget

04-20-2010, 11:14 AM

Great work lads! You nailed the retro feel. I ignored the CG background of it. The voice over is stunning. I wish to have someone with this sound around my friends here in Slovakia. Good luck :beer: (they still didn't made the dark pints)

thanks everyone for the kind words! and youl have to come over here to dublin to have a propper pint of the plack stuff!! its like the gods themselves come down and brew it for us!! haha

bstout

04-20-2010, 01:00 PM

this is great !
i want to join SMARM !

opentarget

04-21-2010, 12:17 PM

haha, we are all members of SARM here, smoking drinking and eating steak has got us through this project!

JurajMolcak

04-23-2010, 10:25 AM

and youl have to come over here to dublin to have a propper pint of the plack stuff!! its like the gods themselves come down and brew it for us!! haha

It is not that unreal to manage. I spent around one year in Dublin and I am usually back for few days once a year. Let's say I know what's like propper pint taste, unless they gave me all waterized :D

Luc14no

04-23-2010, 08:06 PM

JaJAJAJ great! very funny! good work!, the animation is the best i love it, the character design, the graphic design and the concept, all looks great, in my short also make a subtle reference to smoking, was very common to see people smoking at that time on screen, was a symbol of seriously, masculinity or something.
Very good work guys, congratulations!

Good luck!

twodassassin

04-27-2010, 10:16 AM

Smoking gets the girls!

opentarget

04-28-2010, 02:18 PM

smoking nearly got me dumped by girlfriend the other day when i was chought red handed playing heavy rain with a fresh box of cigs and no concept of time....but then again most girls are fools for guys cool enough to smoke. lol

lunar1369

04-28-2010, 02:57 PM

What's heavy rain? By-the-by, Joe Camel sits heavily on my back

opentarget

05-04-2010, 12:38 PM

heavy rain is a slick game for the ps3, great graphics great story...despite all the plot holes. well worth a look, although id suggest renting as its quite short.

opentarget

05-25-2010, 07:51 AM

whens the next competition coming up, i really enjoyed working on thins one and looking at the enteries

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